


Made of steel, made of bone

by Ischa



Category: Dark Angel, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Genre: Big Bang Challenge, Crossover, F/M, M/M, Multi, Robot Sex, Sexual Content, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-12
Updated: 2012-09-12
Packaged: 2017-11-14 02:26:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/510336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ischa/pseuds/Ischa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec finds himself looking after two kids from the past.</p><p>  <i>“What does it mean?” John asked. His fingertips brushed over the tattoo on Alec's neck and Alec made himself not flinch or break John's arm. It was a reflex. He wanted to lecture John on the dangers on sneaking up on him, but he let it slide. John was being comfortable in his space, it wasn't a bad thing. It wasn't John's fault either that Alec sometimes didn't know how to deal with a casual touch. And the tattoo was a painful reminder of all the things he wanted to forget, but couldn't.</i><br/><i>“It's a bar code what do you think it means?” Alec shoot back.</i><br/><i>“Bar codes are used to tag products, merchandise,” Cameron said in that unnerving calm voice of hers. Alec knew she didn't mean to offend. She didn't know better, it was how she was after all. She couldn't really change it either.</i><br/><i>“He's not a thing,” John said sharply.</i><br/><i>There were people out there that thought otherwise, Alec thought. “She's right. It shows what kind of merchandise I am.”</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Made of steel, made of bone

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the darkangel-bb. 
> 
>  
> 
> Beautiful art by mandraco.

~1~  
John was pretty sure someone messed up somewhere along the way. Humans or machines. It didn't really matter, except that machines didn't mess up; they were programmed to do it and that posed a whole other set of problems. He couldn't do anything about that now anyway. What he could do something about was getting some clothes. It was freaking cold in Seattle at this time. He had no idea exactly what year it was, he needed to find out. Hopefully Cameron was on her way to rescue his ass. Again. Sometimes John seriously had enough of all this, the only thing that kept him going was – he cut that thought as a cold gush of wind hit his skin.  
First things first. Clothes.  
This wasn't the best part of town, but there were still a lot of people around, he was ducking in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to steal something to wear. It didn't really matter what at this point. He couldn't feel his fingertips anymore.  
He knew that the course of action would be to stay where he came through, because chances were that Cameron would come through there too. She was just good like that.  
He found a homeless guy and took his coat. It would do for now. He needed to find a paper or something. If people were around it meant that Skynet hadn't declared war yet. That was a good sign, but no way was he safe here. 

~+~  
Great, Alec thought, Max always made him do her legwork. Sometimes he wondered why he let her boss him around like that. This had been an easy enough job – in and out. He tossed the package in the air and nearly dropped it as something bright to his right blinded him.  
What the all loving hell? He blinked. In the middle of a dirty alley was a girl cowering. She was naked. And perfect, Alec thought. Like no human being could ever be, well, except them, but they were just a sum of the prettiest things put together. 

“Hey,” he said. 

She cocked her head like he would to asses the situation. To see if he was a threat. He wasn't if she wasn't.  
“I'm looking for a boy,” she said, standing up. Alec knew that the right thing to do was to look away, but come on. She didn't seem to mind. 

“I am a boy,” he answered with a grin. 

“Yes, but you're not the one I'm looking for,” she said. She cocked her head again. Something about that was disturbing. It didn't seem human – not really. 

“Aren't you cold?” he asks. 

She shook her head and then as if she thought better of it, “Yes. A human would be cold. I need to find John.” 

“How does he look?” 

“He would be naked,” she answered. 

This was one of the strangest things Alec's lived through and he lived through some really fucking strange shit. He took of his jacket and handed it over to her. Even if she wasn't cold, there was no way she could run around naked in the city. That screamed trouble. He had a packet to deliver. She could probably borrow some clothes from Max. They seemed to have the same size.  
“Thank you,” she said, putting it on. It just covered her ass. It was better than nothing. She would still catch a few stares – or a few more. 

“Listen, I need to deliver this,” he showed her the packet and she nodded. “You wanna come with and maybe borrow some clothes?” 

“I have to find John,” she answered. 

“I know people who can find people,” he said. Logan could. They weren't the bestest friends, but whatever. Logan was the bleeding heart type. He would help a naked girl in need. Alec was helping her and he was in no way the bleeding heart type. Thing was, she was fucking pretty. Strange, sure, but her body was perfect. Like someone calculated the perfect girl and assembled her. 

“He should be in the area,” she answered. 

“I didn't see a naked guy running around. I'm sure people would've noticed.” 

“John would find something to wear. You said it was cold.” 

“It is cold. It's winter in Seattle.” 

“There is no snow.” 

“Well, no, but that doesn't mean anything.” 

“I was hoping for snow,” she said in that strange voice of hers. 

Her feet were getting dirty as she walked around. Looking for something. Alec glanced at his watch. He needed to get a move on. “Listen, you can stay and look for him, or you can come with me. I have to go.”

She turned suddenly and then Alec heard it too. Police sirens. “They have John,” she stated.  
He had no idea how she knew that, but that she wasn't purely human was as clear as glass. She made to run past him where they could see the lights, but he grabbed her arm.  
“Let go, I don't want to hurt you,” she said. 

“They're taking him in. Logan can bail him out. If you go over there and try something shit will go south and they will have you on the radar too.” 

She gave him that look again and nodded once shortly. “Let's go to find Logan.” 

What joy, Alec thought. 

 

~2~  
John wasn't sure why they arrested him. But the police seemed to be the same everywhere. He gave them one of the fake names Cameron would recognize and let them shove him into a cell. It was packed. He could take any one of them, probably. He didn't want to draw attention to him, though.  
Cameron would come. John knew she would. After all John made her that way. Not his current self, but his future self, still. She was his and he was hers to protect.

And old paper was lying around and John grabbed it. He got a few nasty looks from the guys around him, but no one started shit, so he just sat down in his corner and read the headlines. Nothing he recognized. The year was 2020. There was talk about mutants that caught his eye. Machines could be mistaken for mutants, he guessed. He wondered what they wanted here, in this area. And why exactly wasn't Skynet on the warpath yet? Was that a good sign, did they somehow stopped it? Changed the future?  
It still looked bleak, this future John thought. What he saw of Seattle before the cops took him in looked like after a battle. Nothing about it in the paper. But then John didn't think there would be. This was a past-war city.  
The coat felt itchy and smelled horrible. He wished Cameron would find him soon. Until then he would keep his head down and pray their camera would stay broken until Cameron could get him.  
At least mom didn't know about this, John thought. 

~+~  
Alec let himself in without knocking. It could be called breaking and entering, but Cameron didn't seem to mind or question his methods.

“The kitchen's over there,” Alec said pointing in the direction. 

She shook her head. “I don't eat. Much.” 

Maybe she was a blood sucker or something. He wondered what the hell he got himself into this time. “Wanna talk to Logan then?” 

“Yes.” 

Alec heard Logan getting up and creeping around. He rolled his eyes. “It's me.” 

“Alec! I nearly blew your head off,” Logan answered, grumpy. He came around the corner, gun loose at his side. 

“As if, I heard you getting up from the chair. You heard me talking to Cameron.”  
Logan looked at her then and raised an eyebrow.  
“Beats me. I found her naked,” he answered. 

“Naked?” 

“Naked as on the day she was born,” Alec said.

“I wasn't,” she said. 

“What?” Logan asked. 

“Born. I wasn't born,” she answered.

Logan gave Alec another look. Alec shrugged. He just met her after all. “She needs to find a friend. Was probably taken in this evening.” 

“Why?” 

“Because he was buttnaked too, what do I know? Cops, Logan. Sometimes they don't need a reason,” Alec put the packet on a table nearby. “Max around?” 

“On a mission with Joshua.” 

Alec nodded. “Can she borrow some of Max' clothes? I do need my jacket back and she is-”

“Yeah, I get it,” Logan cut in. “Hey, you want to shower and put on some clothes?” Logan asked her. 

“Yes. Are you going to find John?” 

“Yes,” Logan answered. “I need a description and a last name.” 

She looked around and when she found a pen and a piece of paper she sketched out a face and handed it over to Logan. Alec risked a glance. The boy really was a boy. “John Baum, or John Dixon, or John Reese,” she said.  
Logan gave him another look. Alec couldn't help it okay? She was pretty and she had been naked and he was pretty sure that she could kick ass like Max or better. And she was trying to look out for this kid. John. 

“Right,” Logan answered. “I'm gonna look where they've taken him.” 

“His photo can't reach the system,” Cameron said. 

“Is he dangerous?” 

“God, Logan, look at that kid. He's not even twenty. How dangerous could he be?” Alec scoffed. He got a meaningful look. Okay, point taken. He had been a soldier all his life. He had been dangerous with freaking six. But not everyone was raised that way and ended so screwed up like him and the other X5's. Alec despite his cynicism had some faith left in the human race. Partly because of Logan, not that he'll ever tell Logan that. 

“Yes, but he's in danger too,” she answered, ignoring Alec's little outburst. 

“Bathroom is over there. I'm gonna find you something to wear,” Alec said. 

“Thank you,” she replied, nodding a bit. She took his jacket off right then and there. Logan looked away, Alec didn't. He took the jacket and threw it over the back of a chair. 

“I'll be in the office,” Logan said.  
Logan, Alec thought, was kind of a gentleman. Was probably a requirement for being a good-doer. 

 

~3~  
John didn't know the guy who waited for him at the front desk. That wasn't surprising. He didn't know anyone in the year 2020. At least at his current age. He couldn't see Cameron. But the guy was telling the police some bullshit story about how John Reese had been partying too hard, and of course he was aware that John was a minor and there would be consequences. He was just so glad that the police had found John and that he was okay. John's mother would've killed him otherwise and could they please sweep it under the methodological rug? There was money handed over.  
The cop took it with practised ease and let the guy take John. No further questions asked. The world was a screwed up place. This guy could've been a drug dealer, a human trafficker, a rapist with a taste for boys and the cop just handed John over and let any record of John's existence disappear. The guy didn't touch him. Didn't even grab his arm to steer him in the direction of the bike that was parked just a bit away. He was big and had something around him that told John he knew how to fuck you up if you should cross him. 

“Relax,” he said. “Cameron's waiting for you back at HQ.”

John could breathe again. Cameron was okay and she somehow mad friends or whatever. Or this one was from the future too. One way to find out.  
“Can I see your tattoo?” John asked. If they guy didn't have one, that would prove he wasn't from the future, no fighter of the resistance. Just a bystander who thought Cameron was a girl in trouble.  
The guy gave him a sharp look and then nodded, he brushed the hair at his neck aside and John looked up. It was a bar code. It was not what John was expecting. 

“She doesn't have one,” the guy said. 

“No,” John answered and was wondering what the hell all this meant. 

“You don't have one either.”

“No,” John said. 

“Get on the bike,” the guy said as he got on it too. “Hold on. Streets aren't anymore what they used to be.” 

Yeah, John thought. I can see that. He wondered what had happened in this version of the future. He wondered if this was the price they paid for destroying Skynet. Wondered if it was worth it. He got on the bike and held on to the guy like his life depended on it. It probably did. 

~+~  
Alec felt uneasy about the kid. Cameron's sketch showed a normal teenager, but John Reese, or what his real name was, was no normal teenager. He recognized a trained soldier when he saw one. John had been trained.  
He was glad Max was on a super secret mission with Joshua, so she couldn't give him shit for getting mixed up in this, because they had bigger problems. Their own.  
He sped up on the last few hundred meters and the boy's fingers dug into his stomach harder. When Alec concentrated he could hear the boy's heart beating too fast in his chest. He still wasn't freaked out. 

Alec hustled the kid up the stairs and into Logan's apartment without being seen. Better safe than sorry in this case. Cameron had said he was dangerous and Alec believed it in a heartbeat now.  
She was waiting in the entry hall like she hadn't moved at all since he left. He gave Logan a look. 

“She didn't,” Logan answered. He seemed between amused and freaked out. Logan could deal. He was friends with mutants and they all have had their five minutes of batshit crazy. 

“John,” she said and Alec was waiting for them to hug the living shit out each other. It didn't happen. 

“Thanks,” he said. His fingers were in the pockets of this horrible smelling coat. He needed to clean up and Alec would need to find him something to wear. 

“Are you okay?” Cameron asked, she reached out with two fingers, but didn't touch. “Can I?”  
He nodded, clenching his fingers. Alec knew because he was watching. She brushed her fingertips against the skin of his neck and he exhaled slowly. “You're alright,” she said. Something tender creeping into her voice.  
John nodded again.  
Alec wasn't the expert on interpersonal relationships, but that was an odd display of caring. 

“You need to shower kid and I'm gonna find you something to wear,” Alec cut in. He just couldn't watch this awkward behaviour anymore. 

“Thanks,” John said as Alec pointed the way to the bathroom. Cameron was following him. She sat down in front of the bathroom door and waited.  
Alec shook his head. 

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Logan asked. 

This was never a good sign, Alec thought. “Sure.” He followed Logan to the office. It was a mess of papers and disks and computer parts. “So, you did research while you were finding out where they held the kid?” 

Logan nearly smiled at him. “I did. It's what I do. Finding the very good buried secrets of other people. Nothing really on Cameron. But a few things on John Baum.” He typed something and tuned the screen so Alec could see the photo. It showed John. The date was 2007. 

“Really good genes?” Alec joked. 

“You have really good genes, still I don't think you'll look like that 13 years from now,” Logan answered. 

“He's not a freak experiment. Is he?” 

“Couldn't find anything in the Manticore files.” 

“We don't have everything. A lot was destroyed in the fire,” Alec threw in. 

“Cameron doesn't have a tattoo-”

“Joshua doesn't have one,” Alec cut in. He didn't know why he was being so stubborn about this, but he was. 

“Joshua was the first. You know that. Everyone else has a bar code. Cameron doesn't have one. John doesn't have one either. They aren't Manticore projects. They are something else.” 

“Did you let him disappear?” Alec asked. 

“Yes. No traces. The only files about this are on my hard-drive. It's a wonder these were even in the system. Buried, but there. You know what I mean? After the crash most of the records were lost, but this one was just lying around and collecting dust.” 

“Because people are looking for me,” John said. 

Alec looked at him. He hadn't heard them coming. Kid had some pretty good moves. He was dripping water on Logan's floor and the clothes were too big on him, he was barefoot. He looked like a lost kid. But looks were deceiving. Cameron was standing a bit behind him. Like a bodyguard not like a friend. But Alec was sure she still cared about him. In her own way. 

“What kind of people?” Logan asked. 

“Bad people.” 

“Cameron said you were dangerous,” Logan said. 

“To those people? Yeah. No doubt. They want me dead.” John sure wasn't sugar coating it for anyone. Least for himself. Alec wondered how his childhood had been to make him this kind of teenager. “Tried to kill me a few times. I need to be sure that they can't find me here,” John answered. He looked at Logan with hard eyes. 

Logan nodded. “Alec's gonna stay with you.” 

Alec gave him a look. What was Logan on about? Alec had a social life. Max was gone and Joshua too. Alec could finally get drunk and hit on pretty woman without being bossed around.  
“What? NO way am I going to play the babysitter.”

“I don't need a babysitter,” John cut in sharply.  
Alec ignored him. Of course John didn't need one. He already had one. 

“They can't stay here with all the shit that is going on. I need to be there for Max and other pressing matters at hand,” Logan answered. 

“I do have a life.” 

“You're doing nothing while Max's gone. We both know that.”

“We can look after ourselves,” John said. 

“Look how well that worked so far? You got arrested for walking around naked. And we do need to talk about what's that about,” Alec answered a bit pissed off. 

“None of your business. Thanks for bailing me out. We'll take it from here.” 

“John,” Cameron cut in. 

He turned on her. “What?” 

“We can't go home yet,” she answered. 

He ran a hand through his hair, thinking. “We need supplies and a place to hide out until we can build it.” 

She nodded. “We will need money. John. This is our best option right now.” 

Alec was pretty sure he was fucked. Logan gave him that look again. That 'what would Max do' look. Alec knew all too well what Max would do. Kick ass and keep these kids out of trouble. Find them a place to stay. Logan was right he couldn't be looking out for two kids right now. Not with all the crazies out there that once belonged to Manticore. 

“Fine, they can stay at my place for now.” 

“Thank you, Alec,” Cameron said. 

John only nodded. He didn't like it, well Alec wasn't heads over heels for this living arrangement either. 

“I need cash,” Alec said, holding his hand out to Logan. 

“What for?” 

“Well, the kid does need something to wear that fits and food.” 

Logan sighed, but got out his valet. Alec hoped he wasn't going to be cheap here. Logan smiled. He wasn't. “Should cover all your expenses.” 

Alec thumbed through the bills. Maybe. “Depends on how long the kids are going to stay,” he answered. 

“As shortly as possible,” John said. 

“I'm taking the car too,” Alec told Logan, ignoring John. He didn't let Logan even ask why. “Can't drive around with two kids on a bike, can I?” 

“Not one scratch, Alec. I mean it.” 

Alec grinned. “Gonna get my ride tomorrow morning.” 

“Alec-”

“I got it. Not one scratch,” Alec said, grabbing the dangling keys. “Come on you Hänsel and Gretel. Let's leave the witch's house.” 

“Hänsel and Gretel?” Cameron asked on their way out. 

“John didn't tell you?” John replied. 

“No.” 

“It's a story about a girl and a boy lost in a forest where they met an evil witch,” John answered. 

“Oh,” Cameron said. “We aren't lost.” 

“No,” John said, “we aren't.”  
Alec wondered what else they were if not lost. 

 

~4~  
Alec's apartment was a mess. Nothing like Logan's home of clean lines. John threw the bag with his and Cameron's new clothes on the sofa and looked around. 

“There's only one bedroom,” Alec said. 

“John and I can share,” Cameron said. 

Alec looked sceptical. “She's my sister.” 

“She walks around naked in the worst part of town,” Alec gave back. 

“She can take care of herself. We both can.” John was pretty sure Alec would bring up the cop-accident again, but he didn't. 

“What's with the naked thing anyway?” Alec flopped down on the couch and grabbed a remote. An old AC/DC record was playing a second later. John missed 2007 painfully, suddenly.  
John shared a look with Cameron and she nodded. They had no choice here. There were always risks, but John had the feeling Alec was hiding out here too. 

“You can't take anything with you when you jump through time,” Cameron said in her calm voice. 

Alec looked at her then. “Fine, if you wanna lie about it-”

“We are from the past-” John started. 

“I am from the future,” Cameron interrupted. Right, she was from his future. He sometimes forgot. 

“I've heard a lot of crap and I've seen a lot, but timetravel? Give me a break.” 

“You don't have to believe us. You asked, we answered,” John shrugged. 

“How do you want to get home?” Alec asked. He wasn't looking at Cameron any more, but at John. John felt a bit like hiding under that piercing gaze. He didn't. He knew on instinct that he had to stand his ground to be taken seriously here. He might have been only seventeen, but he was so far from a normal kid it wasn't even funny anymore. Something in Alec's eyes told a similar story. 

“Cameron can build a new time-machine.” 

Alec took a deep breath and run his hand over his face. “I bet that's not gonna be cheap.” 

“You believe us?” John asked. 

“I believe that you believe that. And it will be a pleasure to prove you wrong about the time-machine thing.” 

“We'll see,” John answered with a smile. 

“So, dinner?” Alec asked, getting up from the couch and into the small kitchen. 

“Sure.” 

“Cameron you wanna eat?” Alec asked. 

“No. I don't eat-”

“Much, yes. I got that,” Alec cut in. He got out a bottle of beer for himself and some kind of juice for John. “There are glasses in the cupboard.” 

Alec wasn't a good cook by any means. He made them pancakes without sugar, but with some kind of honey or something. It wasn't totally terrible, but it wasn't good either.  
John wasn't going to complain. They were stranded here. He needed to get some information about this time and what happened to Skynet before it could declare war on humankind in 2011. John needed a computer. 

~+~  
“Logan has one that's pretty good and connected. I have no clue if he'll let you use it. He is a bit paranoid,” Alec said and didn't add that Logan had all the reasons in the world to be as paranoid as he wanted to be. People were out to get him. No question there. “Are you even good with computers?” He got out the coffee Logan had organised from somewhere and started to boil water for it. The couch, he thought, was no way to spend a night. Not if you were sober. Which he had been last night. If these kids were staying longer, he needed a second bed, or at least a mattress. 

“John is an excellent hacker,” Cameron threw in. 

“We better keep that to ourselves,” Alec answered. He got mugs out, three and then looked at Cameron. “Coffee?” 

“No, but thank you for asking,” she answered. 

He shrugged and put one mug back into the cupboard. She was sitting at the small table and watching him. He could feel her gaze on his back. It was unnerving. He wanted to snap at her, but he suspected that that was just how she was. Nothing to do about it. 

“I just need some information. I have no idea what is going on.”

“Because this is not your time and it's neither the future Cameron comes from,” Alex said. This was nuts. These kids were nuts, but hey, as long as they weren't dangerous. To him. Everyone else could get their asses kicked. Alec really didn't mind. He would let them stay. 

“It's okay that you're not believing us. It does sound nuts,” John said. 

The water was taking forever to boil again. Alec turned around and leaned on the counter. He had only two chairs anyway. “I have a job, besides these little favours for Logan, so, I'm going to drop you two at Logan's and you can ask him to use his precious computer. He might even read you a story.” 

John didn't roll his eyes, but Alec knew it was a close call. The water was finally ready and he made coffee, handed one to John.  
John looked around and then seemed to remember that Alec didn't have any sugar. He made a face. Alec took a sip. It was great coffee and the real stuff too. He didn't get why someone wanted to spoil it with sugar. Kids, he thought.  
“Logan will have sugar and all kinds of fancy stuff. You should take advantage of it.” 

“We will,” Cameron said.  
Alec kinda liked her. 

“Shouldn't you call Logan and tell him we're coming?” John asked, taking another careful sip of coffee. 

“No. It's better this way. He can't say no that way.”  
John nodded. Alec suspected he was more the 'apologize later' type too. 

“Will we be going soon?” Cameron asked.

Alec glanced at his watch. “Yes, we will.” He put his mug in the skin. “Grab your jackets, we're going on a trip.”  
John gave him a look, Cameron just grabbed her jacket. He decided right there and then, that he liked her more. 

 

~5~  
John was an excellent hacker, but he didn't need those skills to find out what happened to the world in this time, this reality. Terrorists with a bomb. In 2009. Well, John thought. It was not great, but at least there wasn't a war against the machines going on. He wondered if he just should let it happen. Maybe it was even him and Cameron and people from the resistance who did it in this version of time. Of course a magnetic pulse would crash down everything. It would crash Skynet too. The question was for how long? Computers were running again. The world was a place of chaos, but it was still populated by human beings. People weren't desperately fighting for the survival of the human race. 

“This is good,” Cameron said beside him, taking everything in. “A magnetic pulse would stop Skynet.”

“It would stop all machines,” John pressed out. He felt like screaming. 

“That's a good thing, John. The machines are the enemy,” she answered in her calm rational voice. He wondered if future him ever got sick of that voice and wanted to bash his head against a bunker wall. Like he did right now. 

“All machines includes you,” he said calmly. 

“I know,” she replied. 

“Do you want to die?” 

“No.” 

“Then why do you even take this into consideration?” 

“It would keep you safe,” she answered.

And that was what mattered to her the most, because he made her that way. Sometimes John was wondering what future him had been thinking sending someone like her to him. Future him had to know. Had to know all these things that he felt for her and how he really shouldn't, because she wasn't a real girl. Never could be. She was metal and synthetic skin and blood from god only knows where. And she had a chip for a brain and no heart. Even if John wasn't sold on the whole heart thing as the location of tender feelings. Her not having a heart was a solid proof she wasn't human.  
Sometimes he wished he could stop caring about what happened to her. 

“I'm making pasta,” Logan said poking his head into the living room. 

“Great,” John answered. He was feeling hungry. He only had had coffee at Alec's place this morning. 

“You found what you were looking for?” 

“Yes,” he answered. This was a possible future. Not the rainbows and sunshine he wished for, he knew his mother wished for too, but one in which the human race survived a bit longer. Maybe they could build the bomb, he could send Cameron into the future or something. Just so she wouldn't be there when they would set it off. Maybe this could be a real solution to their Skynet problem. John needed time to think and plan and think some more. Cameron needed time to built a new time-machine. John was sure it would take some time, parts weren't easy to come by. Parts that would work even harder. 

“Dinner's ready in ten,” Logan said. 

“Cameron doesn't eat,” John answered. 

“For two then,” Logan said.  
John nodded. He was grateful that Logan didn't ask any more questions they couldn't answer. 

~+~  
Alec didn't think it would be such a pain in the ass to let the kids live with him. And it wasn't most days. He went to work and left them at home and when he came back his living room would look like a scrapyard or something. Every day a little bit more. 

“Do I even want to know how you got all that stuff? And where from?” 

“Probably not,” John answered. He was fumbling with a chip. Cameron was clearing a space in the middle of the floor by the window.  
Alec could ignore a lot of stuff. It's how he managed not to go crazy in Manticore and after. Small looking, thin Cameron pushing closet sized metal pieces out of the way? Yeah, not so much. 

“Okay, who are you?” he asked, cocking his hip against the counter and taking a sip of his beer. It was well deserved after all the crap he had had to deal with at work today and these kids weren't exactly five. Alec wasn't much older than them in fact. He just felt like it on most days. 

“Cameron.” 

“Yeah, no. You pretty, are obviously not quite human.” 

“I'm not human at all,” Cameron answered. 

He put his beer aside. “Explain.”  
And Cameron did in great detail. All about her chip, her synthetic skin, her skeleton made of metal he's never heard off. Maybe it was the stuff Manticore was using when they upgraded Zack. Maybe it was something that could be what Cameron was made of. “Can I see?” 

“What?” She asked. 

“Your skeleton?” Alec replied. She was a machine, it shouldn't hurt her. 

“Would that make you believe me?” she wanted to know. 

Maybe, probably, Alec thought. “Yes.”

“No,” John cut in. 

“It's okay, John,” Cameron said. There was something about the way she said John's name. Her voice sounded different then. Just a little bit and maybe normal humans couldn't even make out the difference, but Alec, because he was something else, he could. 

“NO,” John said again. Louder this time and he put the chip away he was playing with and stood up from the floor.  
Cameron ignored him. She grabbed a sharp looking piece of metal from the floor and cut her arm. Then she pulled the skin aside. There was blood and some tissue, but no muscles underneath. The bone was silver. A dark silver colour, it looked sharp and beautiful when the light hit it at the right angle. 

“Can I close it up now?” she asked. 

“Yes. Thank you,” he answered. 

John looked pissed off. He had this stubborn tilt to his chin. Alec thought it looked kinda adorable.  
“Don't do that again,” John told her. 

“I won't need to,” she replied calmly. 

“That's why you don't eat?” Alec asked. 

“Yes, but I can. I just don't need to. I don't see the appeal either,” she said tending to her wound. He could watch as it closed over and healed up. John's fingers were twitching at his sides like he wanted to do something, but had no real idea what. 

“You okay?” he asked. 

“Yes,” Cameron said, looking at him. “Thank you for asking.”  
He shrugged. All of a sudden things made a whole lot more sense. She was at least part what she said she was. She could still be something like Zack. Part human. Or just a metal shell with a human brain. Who the hell knew what was brewing in the Manticore laps before Max's little stunt made them blow it all up? Only god, maybe, but Alec didn't believe in god. It was made perfectly clear that any kind of believe in a higher power than Manticore wasn't okay. Painfully clear. And when he allowed himself to think what happened to Ben because he did believe, well. 

“You got everything you need to built your time-machine?” It was still strange to say the word. He was sure he would crack up any second now. He took one look at John and sobered up. 

“No, but we're getting there. You need us to move out. You have to tell us,” he said. 

Alec shook his head. He was not the bleeding heart type, but he wasn't a monster either and he kinda liked having Cameron around. It was good to know she could protect herself – that she could protect John too. Because John was so obviously human.  
“That's not why I asked. I would kick your asses out if you were cramping my style too much. But I can still work and drink and get laid,” he smirked.  
John nodded, once sharply. He was a teenage boy and he was living with Cameron. Boy had to be freaking frustrated. “You wanna hit a bar?” Alec asked. 

John looked at him. Hard. Like maybe Alec was kidding. “I am seventeen,” John said. Like that would matter here. Like it would matter to Alec. 

“I can buy you lemonade if that's what you want,” Alec answered calmly.  
John squared his shoulders. He was probably sick of being treated like a kid. 

“You can't get drunk, John,” Cameron said. 

“I won't get drunk,” John answered. 

“You coming with?” Alec asked her.  
She looked, not torn exactly, but like she didn't want to interrupt her work, but knew someone had to look out for John. Because John was important. “I can look out for him.”  
She gave him a look. Cocked her head and then just threw a piece of metal at his head without a warning. He caught it with ease. His body taut, ready to strangle her.  
“What the fuck?” 

“Yes,” she said. “Yes you can look out for John.” 

He grinned, throwing the metal back at her. “Don't wait up.” 

“I can't help it,” Cameron answered. “I don't sleep.”

“Grab your jacket, John. We're going out.”  
John did. 

 

~6~  
In some ways Alec reminded John of Derek. Small things, and Alec was obviously sometimes a real dick.  
Not last night though. Last night they danced with pretty girls and played pool and John had known Alec wasn't exactly playing by the rules, but he didn't care. People had to make a living and he and his mom pulled some pretty shady crap too when they needed money. Alec was turning into a friend close enough to John's age that John almost felt normal. John had no idea why he got himself in these kinds of situations. It wasn't healthy to make friends in a future that wasn't even set in stone yet. All kinds of things could go south and maybe Alec would never be born or killed during that first attack on Judgement Day. 

Alec was boiling coffee in the kitchen. John could hear him putter around. He was up early for his job and he always took the bicycle and not the bike to work. John knew he was a courier, because it was paid okay and you could move freely around the city. It had been a smart choice. 

“Alec is really smart,” Cameron said from her place in the corner. It used to freak John out a bit the first few days when they were sharing the room and pretending to be siblings. He wondered if Alec ever bought that particular lie. 

“What makes you say that?” John asked opening his eyes and getting up into a sitting position on the bed. 

“He did ask questions about the time-machine. And I answered and he asked more questions. Specific questions, like he understood what I was saying and just wanted more details.” 

“Is he helping you with the time-machine?” John asked. He wasn't sure he liked it. Wasn't sure he liked that Alec was being friendly with his robot. Which was all kinds of messed up and it was way too early to be having these kinds of thoughts. He pushed the duvet aside and got out of bed. 

“No, he's just asking questions. Doesn't touch a thing.” She was watching him. Probably looking for some sings that he wasn't up to the task or whatever. He was fine. Not even hung over. Not much. 

“I guess we're lucky we found him.” 

“He found us,” Cameron said. 

John was sure Alec only stopped and looked at Cameron twice because she had been naked. Not that John could blame anyone for stopping and staring at a naked girl in the middle of a filthy alley. Hell, he himself caught himself looking at her.  
“Whatever. I mean we could have had it worse. Way worse.” 

“That is true,” she answered cocking her head. “The coffee is ready.” 

“Thank god,” John replied. He pulled on a clean-ish shirt and the jeans he was wearing for two days now and swore to himself that today would be the day he asked Alec about laundry. 

~+~  
“You want to wash clothes?” Alec asked, pushing a mug of hot coffee into John's direction.

“Yes. If we can do it, I want to do it,” John answered. He grabbed the sugar Alec stole from Logan two days ago and added it to his coffee. Two spoons. John was clearly from somewhere where it didn't matter how much sugar one used.  
Cameron was sitting at the table not doing anything, except watching, listening – what she usually was doing. It didn't unnerve Alec at all. It was just how she was. 

“Water doesn't come cheap around here,” Alec said.  
John stirred his coffee silently. Alec could nearly feel him twitch under all the layers of not clean clothes. “Logan has a washing machine,” he added. 

John looked up. “Can we use it?” His voice sounded hopeful. 

“Max does it all the time now, I don't see why not. You'll have to get there on your own. If you want to do it while I'm out – working.” 

“Can we take the bike?” John asked. 

Alec gave him a look. His baby was his baby and he was damn sure John had no idea how to drive a motorbike. “You have no clue how to drive it.” 

“I can drive a motorbike. Any kind,” Cameron threw in. 

That he believed in a heartbeat. “How good are you?” 

“Like a machine,” Cameron answered. 

John looked into his mug of coffee. His jaw was set. Like he didn't like her talking like that. Like he maybe didn't even liked to be reminded of the fact that she wasn't human. She didn't seem to have the same problem.  
“That's not a good enough answer.” 

“Is that a no then?” Cameron asked.

“You can take the bus like everyone else,” Alec replied. He put his coffee mug into the sink and knew Cameron would do the dishes later, because she never slept. He could hear her during the night. The walls were pretty fucking thin and the small kitchen wasn't far enough away from the living room. He wondered if John was hearing her too or if he could tune the noise out by now. 

“We can,” John said. He didn't even sounded pissed off. “Going to call him and tell that we're coming?” 

Alec was thinking about it. It would be more fun to just surprise Logan, but god only knew if Logan would be available if Alec didn't call ahead. Someone had to let the kids in. “Can you pick a lock?” 

“Yes,” John answered and Cameron nodded. Sure she could do it. It didn't really surprise him that John could too. 

“You should call ahead,” Cameron said, looking at him. 

It was the sane thing to do. The responsible thing to do. He didn't want to get them killed or something just because it was more fun to mess with Logan. “Yeah, I should.” 

He glanced at his watch. He did have enough time. Alec grabbed the phone and called Logan so John could have clean underwear. The things Alec was doing these days for the greater good. “All set up. You can go over after I leave. Make sure to lock the door and don't talk to strangers.” 

“Funny,” John said, but he was smiling. A little bit and wryly, sure, but Alec still felt like it counted. 

 

~7~  
Alec's living room, with the mattress he was sleeping on in one corner, was slowly becoming a scrapyard. John felt a bit bad because they were essentially overtaking Alec's home. And his life and his friends. Well, only Logan so far, but whatever. John didn't have the feeling Alec had many friends, real friends – not just people you know and who don't know you. In that way he and Alec were kindred spirits. 

“How much longer?” John asked handing Cameron a chip. 

“I don't know, John,” she answered. “These aren't the best circumstances. Half of the parts aren't working like they should.” 

John sighed. Of course half the parts wouldn't be working like they should. They got this stuff from scrapyards and street corners. Junk was lying around everywhere.  
“You think we're doing the right thing?” 

“With what?” Cameron asked, she was disregarding a piece she was fumbling with a while ago. It landed on the 'not for use' pile. They needed to get the stuff out of the apartment and soon. 

“With the bomb,” John said. He wasn't looking at Cameron. He couldn't be looking at her as she was calculating her response. Her own death in this scenario. John really wasn't sure he could do it. On the other hand future John had send Reese to rescue his mother and he knew that Reese wouldn't make it back alive. That he wouldn't survive this. Future him was an ass, John sometimes thought. Sometimes he didn't think he could become that man. On a whole lot of days he didn't want to become that kind of man. 

“Yes,” she said simply. 

“Is it because John made you that way? That you're putting my life above everything, everything including your life, else?” He was feeling angry at himself and at his future self and at her. He was sure she could override that directive. And then? And then he would be the number one priority to kill on her list. Somehow that wasn't the solution either, he thought bitterly. 

“No,” she said. 

He looked at her then. How could she say that? How could she be sure? “How do you know? You don't have a free will. Your only reason to be here is to protect me. To make sure nothing happens to me, that I don't die.” 

She looked away from his face and he thought she looked a bit angry. She had moods, he didn't know how that was even possible, but she had moods. “I don't want you to die, John.” 

“Well,” he said. “I didn't want you to die either.” 

“I know. You didn't let Derek kill me. I know you don't want me to die, John.” 

It was sometimes unnerving how she used his name repeatedly. But it was also something only she did, like she needed to make him remember who he was. Like he could ever forget who he was. He tried, but it didn't work. 

“Why are you agreeing to this then?” He wanted to know. 

“Because it could save humankind,” she answered calmly. “Alec is late,” she added. 

John looked at the clock on the wall, above the small TV. Alec was late. “Maybe he went out with people for a drink.” 

“Did you have fun being out with Alec?” she asked. 

“Yeah. It was fun.” It had been. This time was a bit like a vacation. Nothing was coming after them right now. No one knew he was here, no one knew who he was and no one cared either. Except Cameron of course. 

“You should go out with Alec again, then,” she said. 

“Cameron?” 

“Yes, John?” she cocked her head in that certain way of hers and he didn't know anymore what he wanted to ask her. He wondered what she was doing while they were out or sleeping, because she wasn't only doing dishes and hunting for parts. 

“Nothing,” he said. “Nothing. I forgot.” 

“Okay,” she answered and went back to shuffling through the parts they had and making notes on stuff they still needed to get from somewhere. He couldn't really help her. He had no idea how to built a time-machine. It hadn't been developed by humankind either. He laid down on the floor and stared at the ceiling until his eyes became heavy and he closed them. Listening to her playing with metal. 

~+~  
Alec wasn't really drunk, but he wasn't really sober anymore either. He stumbled quietly into his apartment and stopped in the doorway. Cameron was dancing in the middle of the living room. Between metal and sharp looking parts, dangerous and glittering in the light that came from outside. If memory served right -and it did, because Alec was made that way – she was dancing a scene from the Swan Lake ballet. Her posture was perfect, her movements graceful and fluid. It was a pleasure to look at her. There was no music, but it didn't seem to matter to her. She was only wearing one of John's t-shirts and panties. Alec knew she wasn't a real girl with real feelings, but when he looked at her right now it was hard to believe.  


He had the urge to press her against him and, well. John would probably stab him in the heart for that, he though wryly. 

“You can come inside. I can stop,” she said, but she didn't stop. 

He closed the door behind him and made his way over to the couch. “No, by all means, dance away in my living room.” 

“Thank you; Alec,” she answered, turning her head a bit to be able to look at him. She looked serene, a bit at least. Maybe he just learned how to read her during their stay at his apartment. 

“Does John know you like to dance?” He asked. 

“John knows I dance,” she replied. 

But it wasn't the same thing at all. “He doesn't think you feel.” 

“I am not human,” she answered with a graceful movement of her arm. He wanted to grab her fingers and kiss them. They looked delicate and would feel soft against his lips. He just knew it. 

“But you do feel with this body, you can feel wind and water and other things against your skin?” It was only half a question. Zack could feel all kinds of things with his synthetic skin. He was sure she was made of something similar. 

She stopped in her movement and stood up, looking at him. Her arms loosely against her sides. “Yes,” she answered. “John doesn't understand this body,” she added. 

“John wouldn't,” Alec replied. He held his hand out and she looked at it. “Give me your hand.” 

“Why?”

“Because I want you to feel mine,” he answered. He had no idea what he was doing, but it was something he wanted to do and she was here and she didn't have anyone else either. John didn't count, because John didn't get her like Alec did. He and Cameron weren't exactly the same, but they weren't like John either and that made them kindred spirits. 

She stepped closer then and held out her slender hand. He grabbed it carefully and closed his fingers around hers. She closed her eyes and let him hold it. Her hand was warm and soft. She felt human enough he thought. He wanted to ask what she was feeling, but he didn't. Her fingers twitched a bit as he ran his thumb over her skin. She did feel. Not like a human maybe, but she wasn't a toaster.  
“You dance beautifully,” he said letting go of her hand. 

Her eyes snapped open. “Thank you, Alec,” she answered. 

It was hard not to just grab her, make her tumble with him on the couch and press his body to hers. She wasn't there yet. He was in a state where everything seemed like a good idea and that's how he knew it wasn't. He grabbed the blanket and curled up on the sofa.  
“I can wait in the kitchen until morning,” she said. 

“You can stay and dance in silence,” he answered and she did. 

 

~8~  
John knew something had changed somewhere along the way between Alec and Cameron. For one she called him 'Alec' all the time now. Like she did with John. Making sure she had his attention. Making sure he looked at her. He understood what she was doing to some extend too. John had no freaking idea and he didn't much care either. John trusted her to make the time-machine work for them. To send them back to the past, so they could build a magnetic bomb and plunge the world into chaos to save it.  
John didn't like it. Cameron didn't make friends, didn't know how to behave like a real person, the thing was that Alec didn't expect her to behave like a real person. He never did, not even in the beginning. John wondered why he didn't wonder about that earlier. 

“I'm going to Logan's,” he said at the kitchen-table. 

Alec nodded. “Want me to call ahead?” He took a sip of his coffee. They were out of sugar again. Maybe John could ask Logan for a pound or so. 

“Yes,” John answered. It was always better to call ahead. Logan was a busy man. John hoped Logan would be busy enough that he wouldn't mind John hacking into the system to find out more about Alec. Logan was some kind of new times Robin Hood or whatever, so his gear was safe. John couldn't risk being caught doing what he was about to do. Machines could still be here, in this time, waiting for him to show his face. There was a chance they could analyse his patterns. 

“Do you want me to come with you, John?” Cameron asked. 

He shook his head. “No, I'll be fine.” 

“Is this about the sugar?” Alec teased. 

“Yes,” it wasn't a total lie. 

“But not only,” Alec said. 

“No,” John added. 

“Are you going to do something stupid? You have that look. That stubborn one. I know that look,” Alec answered.

“You sometimes look like that,” Cameron threw in. 

Alec smiled at her. She didn't smile back, John noticed. “That's how I know, Cameron.” 

“I'm not going to do anything that could get me arrested,” John answered. 

“That, doesn't mean anything. It leaves a pretty wide field of stupid stuff to do.” 

“You sound like Derek,” John huffed. He got up and emptied the mug into the sink. It wasn't the same without sugar. He was hoping Logan would make him a cup. 

“Derek is John's uncle,” Cameron answered the unasked question. 

“From the future or the past?” Alec asked. 

“The future. He's from Cameron's time-line,” John said. 

“One evening we'll have to sit down and draw a chart,” Alec answered. 

John shook his head, smiling. He nearly felt bad for wanting to hack into Alec's files.  
He decided then and there that he wouldn't. He could probably just ask about Alec's past. 

“Will you come home late today too?” Cameron asked.  
John had noticed it too, that Alec came home way after midnight. Like he didn't want to be with them if he didn't need to. It made John worry. 

Alec looked at her and then at John. “No,” he said. “I'll come straight home and bring pizza.” 

“Thank you, Alec,” she said. It sounded a bit to John like they were sharing a secret. 

“Have to run, kids. Someone has to earn the money around here.” 

“Don't even pretend, most of it comes from Logan,” John threw in.  
Alec grinned at him on his way out. 

~+~  
Alec wasn't home because he didn't think it would be a good idea being around Cameron while she was dancing and he wasn't drunk enough to pass out. And he couldn't be drunk enough to pass out when he had to get up the next day. Work was a bitch like that. 

When he came home way after midnight she was standing or sitting in a corner, her eyes closed like she was sleeping. It was a bit creepy, but he understood why she did it. She felt like she had to be alert all the time. It was hammered into Alec's brain too. It was hard to relax, even now that he was out, especially now, maybe. He was hunted after all. John and Cameron were too. It gave him some sense of peace knowing she was here. Knowing she never slept.  
He declined the offer to go to a bar that evening after work, because he had promised the kids to come home. He picked up pizza on the way home and didn't think too hard about the reasons he said he would come straight home. 

It was stupid really to get attached now. They wouldn't stay. Cameron was working on the time-machine every day and at nights she did the dishes and danced. John was out the whole day looking for parts and god only knows what else. Annoying Logan to give him more sugar maybe. Alec grabbed a candy-bar too, it was way too expensive, but as he wouldn't spend his hard earned money on booze he could satisfy John's cravings. Well, at least the one for sugar. Maybe he should take John out again. Boy needed to have some contact with normal people. Real girls, as he obviously had all kinds of issues with making the moves on Cameron. Alec could try to talk about it with John, he thought, but only if they were really, really drunk.  
Maybe on Logan's expensive wine. Not that Logan would give it away or give it to Alec so he could get drunk with a minor. Whatever that meant in a world like theirs. Logan of course had all kinds of morals and standards. Alec had more fun, he decided. 

He took the bike home and cramped it into one corner of his living room. He could hear John and Cameron in the bedroom talking. It sounded like an argument. John was often angry, but then John was a teenager with a crush and no outlet. Not to mention all the other crap. Alec was sure Cameron had heard him coming.  
She pocked her head out and Alec smiled at her. 

“I have pizza.” 

“You are home, Alec,” she said. He liked how she said his name. He liked hearing her saying it in this tone that she only reserved for John, usually that is. 

“I am home,” he stated the obvious. “Is John sulking? Because I got him something and you know only good kids get candy.” 

“John,” Cameron said. “Alec bought you candy. And he doesn't like when you're sulking.” 

“I heard him,” John answered and appeared behind Cameron in the door. “You got me candy? Don't you know that kids aren't supposed to take candy from strangers?” 

“Your mother raised you right,” Alec said, taking the pizza out. He didn't bother with plates when he was living alone, but now he liked using his chipped china. 

“She did her best under the circumstances,” John shrugged. 

“You want to eat today?” Alec asked as he got out the plates. 

“Yes,” she said. He was surprised, but maybe that was her way to connect. To make John see that she maybe wasn't a real girl, but that she still was a real person.  
When they were sitting on the floor of the living room, AC/DC playing in the background John wiped his mouth and looked at Alec. John looked determinate and a bit guilty. 

“I got sugar,” he said and Alec waited him out. “I wanted to hack into the system and find out more about you.” 

“And now you don't want to find out more about me?” Alec asked, taking a sip of his beer. 

John took his own bottle between his hands and started to peel the label away slowly. “I still do,” he admitted. 

“Are you going to ask?”

John shrugged like he didn't really know. Like he didn't really do it before that way. He probably hadn't done it that way. 

“You just seem to get Cameron,” he settled on and didn't look up from the bottle. 

Alec thought about it. It didn't sound like John was jealous, but he probably was. “I had a friend once, he was a friend of Max's really. He blew his brains out so she could get his heart and Manticore, they put him back together. Made all the parts he was missing from metal and god only knows what and made him a real boy. Except-”

“He wasn't a real boy,” Cameron threw in. She was staring into the distance. 

“He was still a real person. He was still Zack,” Alec answered and he was looking at John as he said it. It wasn't the whole truth, but the whole truth wouldn't help John right now. This was enough. 

“That's why you weren't freaked out by her, looking at her insides, I mean,” John said. 

“That's why,” Alec answered and kept the rest to himself. He didn't think John was ready to hear it right now.  
John nodded.  
Alec waited if there would be more questions, but there weren't. Alec didn't fool himself into believing this was the end of it. There would be more questions. There always were. 

 

~9~  
John wasn't sure what he had expected from all this. But nothing really changed except that Alec was a bit more open about everything. About Cameron too. He asked more questions, he was home more often too. They would sit around and listen to music and play board-games John borrowed from Logan.  
It still irritated John that Alec was watching Cameron when she came out of the bathroom in only a towel or underwear. She didn't seem to mind. Her hair would drip on the kitchen-table and Alec would smile at her and push a mug of coffee or tea in John's direction.  
He wanted to snap at her sometimes for walking around half naked, but he didn't. His mom wasn't around and Cameron was easy to look at. 

Alec took him out sometimes and Cameron never came with. They asked, but she always wanted to stay home. John didn't exactly know what she was doing until Alec told him she was probably dancing. Ballet.  
And John, because he was sometimes stupid like that, had asked why? Alec had looked at him, something in his eyes that could be nearly called pity, and answered: because she likes to do it. Like it was just that simple. For Alec it seemed it was.  
But John knew Cameron better, knew her longer than Alec. It was hard to imagine for John that Cameron did things because she liked to do them. 

“She isn't what you think she is,” Alec said on one of these evenings. They were sitting at a table away from the main crowd, drinking beer Logan probably paid for. John didn't ask. 

“She is exactly what I think she is. A machine sent here by my future self to protect the current me. I just don't get why he had sent a girl that looked like her,” John answered. He really cursed his future self to hell and back for this. But his future self was currently in hell, so.  
Alec kept silent for a while. It unnerved John. Alec clearly had a theory on this subject. 

“He had his reasons, I imagine,” Alec settled on.  
It wasn't a good enough answer at all. That future him had all kinds of good reasons, or bad ones, that John knew. From the first time he saw Cameron he could feel a connection and even after he learned she wasn't human, was a machine, he felt strangely drawn to her. He did choose her over his own kind if you wanted to see it that way and he's sure his mother and Derek did see it that way.  
Cameron was different. No matter what. Cameron was different and maybe that was the reason future him had sent her instead of anyone else. 

“I'm sure he had,” John said and downed his beer. 

~+~  
“What does it mean?” John asked. His fingertips brushed over the tattoo on Alec's neck and Alec made himself not flinch or break John's arm. It was a reflex. He wanted to lecture John on the dangers on sneaking up on him, but he let it slide. John was being comfortable in his space, it wasn't a bad thing. It wasn't John's fault either that Alec sometimes didn't know how to deal with a casual touch. And the tattoo was a painful reminder of all the things he wanted to forget, but couldn't. 

“It's a bar code what do you think it means?” Alec shoot back. 

“Bar codes are used to tag products, merchandise,” Cameron said in that unnerving calm voice of hers. Alec knew she didn't mean to offend. She didn't know better, it was how she was after all. She couldn't really change it either. 

“He's not a thing,” John said sharply. 

There were people out there that thought otherwise, Alec thought. “She's right. It shows what kind of merchandise I am.” 

“X5-494” Cameron said. 

“She can read bar codes?” Alec asked. “Forget it. Of course she can.” There was a lot of shit he still didn't know about her abilities, but then there was a whole lot they didn't know about his either. 

“What does it mean?” John wanted to know. He came around the couch and sat on the small coffee-table in front of Alec. His eyes were sincere and curious. Often Alec could see something hard behind them. A will of steel. John was becoming a man far too fast. Alec knew that feeling all too well. 

“X5 is the series I'm a part of. The rest, well, it's my name, I guess.” 

“I'm from a series too,” Cameron said from the door. Alec turned to smile at her. She didn't smile back, but that was okay. He had no clue what was going on in her head most of the time, but he didn't have to fear to piss her off somehow either. She just wasn't that kind of girl. She was however the kind that would walk around half naked because she didn't care or didn't get that it was hard for two guys who lived with her to see that. John couldn't fool anyone, Alec thought. He was so heads over heels for Cameron. He had known that before he discovered she wasn't his real sisters. Not that that had been hard. Maybe it didn't matter here to keep up the cover. There was no school they would be going to. They didn't even existed in this time. Not like this. 

“Alec?” John asked. 

Alec turned back to look at him. “I don't wanna talk about it, okay?” 

John nodded. He didn't seem happy, but Alec couldn't care about that now. Besides teenagers were never really happy – or so he heard. Mostly from Logan the first few days he was over and complaining about this clusterfuck.  
Half his living room was covered in tools and metal and stuff Alec was sure could blow the whole building up. John had assured him Cameron really knew what she was doing and he believed it after he talked to Cameron himself. No explosions happened in the weeks they were here so far, so Alec stopped worrying.  
John stretched and his shirt rode up, there was a nearly healed bruise on his hip. Alec had seen the whole ugly thing the first day they met. He didn't ask back then where it came from. And now it seemed a bit late.  
Alec tried not to care about people, it was harder with said people being constantly in his space. Might be a reason why he let Max boss him around. Why he did shit for Logan if Logan needed his help. Why he was stealing paint for Joshua. 

“We need juice,” Cameron said out of the blue. 

Alec got up. “You wanna something specific?” 

“No, what John likes.”

Of course, Alec thought. She didn't eat or drink much. She was the perfect girl and emotionally unapproachable. Reminded him of himself sometimes. In contrast to her he just didn't want to make himself vulnerable to anyone. She maybe just couldn't. Didn't know how. But she was a machine, John kept repeating that, she could probably learn.  
But maybe, he thought, that was her problem too. 

“You should take John with,” Cameron said, as he grabbed the keys and valet.

“I should?” 

“He needs air and exercise.”

“The air out there could kill you,” Alec gave back. 

“No,” she said cocking her head, in the way that he learned meant she was analysing something with that brilliant inhuman brain of her, “it couldn't kill you.” 

“You heard her, John. Grab your jacket.” 

John gave him and then her a look. She was staring right back at him. Not saying a single word.  
“Fine,” he said after a while. 

“The bike needs the breaks checked out,” Cameron said, looking at Alec. 

He nodded. She was sometimes such a pain in the ass. “I won't get him killed, Cameron.” 

“I know, because you will let someone look at the breaks,” she answered. “Today,” she added. 

To be honest, she was a bit scary on some days. Mostly she fitted in perfectly into this time and world, because everyone had hard edges here and was ready to jump your bones for no good reason, but sometimes her face and voice became inhumanly blank. 

“I'm gonna let someone look the bike over,” he promised. He didn't want to crash into something and land his ass in the hospital and have to break out or try to explain his unique condition – not to mention that his blood samples would raise all kinds of red flags - and she had good, well you couldn't call it instincts, could you? Something then when it came to dealing with machines. Maybe it was a kindred spirit kind of thing. What did he know? A few weeks ago he would have called bullshit on the whole time-travel thing and on cyborgs too, even he's seen what Manticore did to Zack. But Zack was still part human. And now a cyborg was building a time-machine in his living room. 

“Be careful John,” she said. 

“Yeah,” John answered, grabbing his jacket. 

“Be careful, Alec,” she said to him.

“Always am,” he answered and ushered John out before she could call him on his bullshit. 

 

~10~  
Sometimes when he couldn't fall asleep he would listen to them talking quietly in the living room. The walls were really thin here. John couldn't make out every word, but a few. He knew Alec was teaching her things. It was kind of disturbing.

Sometimes like now he would get up and open the door a bit to watch.  
Cameron was dancing – like on most nights. Alec was sitting on the floor in the middle of all the metal and debris and the half build time-machine. He was watching her and then he stood up and offered her his hand. She was only wearing a tight shirt and panties. John could see every muscle shift under her not-human skin. Alec was dancing now too. Like he looked it up, or like he learned it from her and his movements were as perfect as hers. John knew Alec was made of flesh and bone, but there was also this extra something in his DNA that made him – for a lack of a better word John thought – _better_ than the ordinary human being. Alec could keep up with her. He could understand her because of Zack, he could grasp the process of her thoughts because he was smarter than the average human being too.  
Jealousy coiled in his guts when he thought about it. And then he remembered how easy Alec could talk girls into everything and how he – in contrast to that – had frozen a little as John ran his fingers over the bar code tattoo on his neck. Like maybe no one ever got to touch it, like it was something Alec didn't like to acknowledge much or often. In hindsight it was probably stupid as fuck to just reach out and touch the skin of Alec's neck. It felt soft and tender. John was pretty sure now, that everyone else would've ended up with a broken arm for even trying to brush the soft hair at the nape of Alec's neck aside. 

“Stop lurking around,” Alec said and John startled out of his thoughts. 

“I'm not,” John answered. 

“Can't you sleep?” Cameron asked. 

“No.” It was easy to admit it now. “What are you doing?” 

“Cameron teaches me how to dance,” Alec said shrugging. He was still holding Cameron's hand in his as John stepped into the living room. The clutter was mostly pushed to the wall to clear a space for their dancing. 

“Ballet?” John asked, one eyebrow raised. He wasn't mocking, but Alec didn't seem like the type. 

“I can play the piano too, I'll have you know,” Alec answered. 

“I can reprogramme killer robots,” John said. 

“It's a valuable skill to have,” Cameron threw in. John looked at her. She was so freaking beautiful like this, he thought and his fingers itched to touch her. 

“Wanna learn how to dance?” Alec asked. 

“I wasn't built that way,” he answered. 

“You do have perfect control over your body,” Alec objected. “I've seen it.” 

“Was raised that way. Learned skills.” 

“What, you think this isn't learned?” Alec asked, gesturing to him and her and John felt like a douche. “Of course I learned how to play the piano the same way I learned how to fire a gun and disarm someone the fastest. Everything we do is a learned skill.”

“We're born a blank canvas,” Cameron said. There was some truth in that. Even the machines were just toys before they were programmed and they did learn. Adapted to the situations they found themselves in. Cameron just learned skills she didn't really need to learn. And kept them up, because she liked to do it. Like dancing ballet. Like holding Alec's hand. 

“Wanna give it a try?” Alec asked again.

John shook his head. He felt groggy and out of his depths. “Is it okay to watch you two?” he asked. 

“Of course, John,” Alec said and his name sounded nearly the way Cameron said it. 

“Of course, John,” she said and let Alec twirl her around the living room. It was a testimony to them being them that they didn't knock anything over in the process.  
John fell asleep on the couch watching them dance. 

~+~  
Alec was ignoring Logan's looks. Logan had no idea what he was talking about anyway. Because Alec didn't tell him about Cameron and John. At least not the whole she is a cyborg and he is from the past thing. He also left out the bit about the time-machine that was currently being build in his living room. 

“I know what I'm doing,” he bit out and Logan sighed. 

“You never know what you're doing,” Logan answered. 

Alec thought that Logan had really no room to talk. No room at all. He had been nearly killed because he couldn't let go of Max. Because he still believed there was a cure of some sorts for their doomed relationship. Alec didn't see it, except for a full biohazard body suit. And that was everything but sexy and it wasn't like Alec put on the moves on Cameron. 

“Can you get the plans for the bomb or not?” Alec asked. He crossed his arms over his chest. He would do it alone if he had to, John would hack the files if he had to too. But it would be safer if Logan could just do it. 

“What do you even want with it?” Logan asked. 

“None of your business. I won't build it. I promise. I just need to see the original plans,” Alec answered. 

Logan still looked torn and like he would call Alec on his bullshit any minute now. “Alec-”

“Look, I pulled all kinds of shady crap for you and didn't get anything in return – money doesn't count,” he threw in before Logan could pull that argument. “You owe me and you know it. I bet half of the stunts I did, you wouldn't have asked Max for.” 

Logan rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was so close to giving in. Alec could feel it. “If I hear that this thing went off I will have your head,” Logan said. 

Alec nodded, but in his head he was so doing a victory dance right now. “It won't happen. Better keeping this thing between us two, too. Just...Max has sometimes strong opinions on these things,” Alec answered. 

“No kidding,” Logan said. 

“When can I get it?” 

“Give me a few days. That is pretty shady. Even for us.” 

Alec didn't think so. After all they were helping mutants for god's sake and killing military people and blowing up secret organisations. What was a small magnetic bomb in all that?  
“Call me when you have it. I will know if you fuck me over on the planes, Logan.” 

“I won't. Jesus. Paranoid much?” 

“I'm an escaped government experiment. What do you think?” 

Logan smiled, shaking his head. “I'll call you.” 

“Ah promises, promises.” 

 

~11~  
John was looking at the prints for the bomb. It was all too real all of a sudden. Cameron was committing the whole thing to memory. They couldn't take anything with them back after all. 

“You'll have to destroy it after,” John said. 

“No,” Cameron threw in and she wasn't looking at John. She was looking at Alec. 

“What do you mean? One bomb that would plunge the whole world into chaos so mankind could survive is enough.” 

“What if we aren't successful? Maybe Alec should know how to build such a bomb. Just in case-”

“You want me to be your back-up plan to save mankind from killer robots?” Alec cut in. 

John couldn't blame him for being- well, whatever Alec was being right now. Not happy, probably.  
“It sounds like a bad scifi plot if you say it like that,” John said. 

Alec laughed. “I am a bad scifi plot, John. But still I am here.”

And it was a good thing too, John thought.  
Cameron nudged her fingertips against Alec's on the tabletop. She's never done it before – in the past. She only touched humans for a reason. Be it to see how they're doing, if they're lying or to hurt or kill them. To scare them. This innocent touch didn't look like any of the above. She touched Alec, because she wanted it. Because she felt like doing it. Like dancing this was her decision. A flight of fancy. It made John's head hurt thinking about what that meant. She was changing, learning to be a real girl. John wasn't sure it was a good thing. 

“It would be good to have a back-up plan,” John admitted and he knew Alec could do it on his own too. Or maybe with Logan's help, even if Logan didn't seem like the type for last resort solutions. On the other hand: Logan didn't see the end of the world yet. This here was nothing to what could happen if Skynet won. Every time they had thought they'd stopped it, it was just a delay. A few more years before the machines would declare war. Maybe these people were living on borrowed time too. 

“I can keep the plans,” Alec said. “I really don't want to fight against the machines, if it's only half as tough as you make it sound. I have enough clusterfuck in my life already,” he added.  
John nodded. No shit, he thought. Alec being an escaped mutant with the military on his heels in a world like this couldn't be the grand prize. But it was life not at the edges of extinction. It had to count for something. John always knew there wouldn't be a cut and dry solution to the Skynet problem.  
“Don't doubt it now,” Alec said, a bit too softly for John's comfort. “It's a small price to pay for saving mankind from being a hunted species and nearly extinct.”  
John looked briefly over at Cameron. He couldn't help himself. He cursed his future self again. Why her? Why sending her to protect him, why not someone, something else? Alec's fingers curled around Cameron's on the table in a gesture of comfort and John stood up because he couldn't handle this. 

~+~  
Alec was watching her as she was watching the heavy rain patter against the window in the living room. He hadn't seen John since this morning. Alec checked that he was with Logan and not doing something stupid, but he still had an uneasy feeling. 

“Aren't you going to finish it?”Alec said. He knew she was working on it, but the time-machine still wasn't working. Still wasn't complete. He had a suspicion she didn't want to complete it just yet. 

“I am.” 

“When?” Alec asked. 

She turned from the window to look at him. Sometimes she looked just like a girl.  
“Soon,” she said. 

“You could assemble the whole thing in under an hour and it would work,” Alec answered. 

She nodded. “Don't tell John, Alec.” It wasn't a threat, it was more of a request. 

Alec closed his eyes briefly. As he opened them she was standing just inches away from him. Her head was cocked and she was looking at his lips. She reached out slowly and carefully, graceful movement like a dance, she knew he would react on instinct if she moved too fast, and placed her fingers on his cheek. “It feels nearly the same,” she said.  
His hand curled around her neck and he breathed her in; cheap shampoo, expensive washing powder and machine oil. Just a hint, he was sure normal people didn't catch the scent. 

“You smell like John,” Alec answered, it wasn't completely the same, but it was damn close. John's scent was all this and then that little bit more, that distinct something that was unique human, unique John. He stroked his thumb over her neck and she leaned into it and then she leaned forward and Alec met her halfway. She knew how to kiss, she knew the technique, but she didn't make any of the noises, the hitches, the little pants, soft breathes human girls made. It felt strange to kiss her, but she was warm and her lips soft against his. His other hand found her hip and she mimicked it on his own. Her hand slipped from his cheek to his shoulder. Her fingers tightened and loosened in a rhythm he could measurer, calculate. 

He leaned his head against hers as he came up for air. “John will kiss differently, Cameron.” 

She nodded. “I know.” 

Alec looked at her then, cocking his head in the same way she does when she's calculating. “Was he your first?” 

“Always,” she answered and then she kissed him again.

 

~12~  
Alec wasn't home when John came back. It was still raining outside, but Logan gave him a lift. 

“You're back, John,” Cameron said. She was sitting close to the window, a hand splayed against the glass. The rain and his own breathing were the only sounds for a while. 

“Yes,” John said. He knew he wasn't home much these days, but he couldn't help her with the time-machine and he needed time away from her and Alec to think. 

“John?” she cocked her head looking at him. She knew something was on his mind. 

“I'm not gonna do it,” he said. He couldn't. Just plain couldn't and he knew it was stupid and selfish and that he probably doomed the whole human race to save one machine, but he somehow couldn't care about it. There was most likely another way to save humankind. One that didn't require her death.  
She nodded like she understood, but John wasn't so sure. She did learn and expanded her abilities in every field, but he still wasn't sure she knew what he was feeling, or if she could ever learn to feel. 

“It's going to be okay, John,” she said. 

He really didn't know how that could be possibly true. He wasn't what people needed him to be. He couldn't lead the war against the machines with her on his side. He couldn't be John Connor with her on his side. No one would trust him.  
He leaned against the wall and looked at her. Her hair was wet, she must have showered a bit ago and she was only wearing one of his T-shirts. Or maybe it was one of Alec's. John wasn't sure. It didn't really matter anyway. It wasn't like he could take anything with him when they got back to 2007. 

“You can't know that,” he gave back. 

She got up, crossing the room to stand in front of him. She smelled like shampoo and water. She reached out and he closed his eyes and let her hug him. She felt soft and smelled real enough and he buried his head in her neck and didn't think for a moment how very fucked up all this was. 

~+~  
Alec was drenched to the bone. Fucking rain, he thought as he kicked the door shut. It smelled like dinner. The surprising thing was, that he wasn't surprised at all. It smelled like dinner more often than not these days when he came home.  
He threw of his jacket and shoes and spared a glance at the time-machine in his living room and then went to the bathroom to take a shower. 

“Dinner's ready in five,” John shouted. 

“I'll be quick,” Alec gave back. He wondered how long Cameron was going to pretend the time-machine didn't work. He understood that this was a breathing space for them and that as soon as they go back shit would go south, but he wasn't sure that Cameron knew that it would be harder for John (and himself) to let go the longer they stayed.  
He showered, put on a t-shirt and pans and wandered out to the kitchen barefoot. Cameron was leaning against the counter while John was setting the table for the two of them. It was all very domestic, Alec thought. This wasn't him. This was what Max and Logan wanted. Suddenly he felt angry at Cameron. He shoved the anger away and sat down. 

“John's not going to build the bomb,” Cameron said and Alec looked at John. 

“This would change the whole world,” Alec answered. 

“Maybe,” John said. “Maybe someone else will do it anyway. I am not the only one who travels through time. There are others. Resistance fighters. They have a tattoo – something like a bar code on their arms.” 

“Machines,” Cameron threw in. “Machines invented the time displacement device.” 

“To kill John? Only for that?” 

“To kill my mother,” John said. 

“So John would never be born,” Cameron added. “The T-800, model 101 was the first to be sent after Sarah Connor.” 

“She destroyed him? It?” Alec asked. 

“That is unclear. Most likely as she is still alive and John is too.”  
Alec nodded. It was possible Manticore somehow got their hands on that piece of metal and build a whole spare parts centre out of it. 

“So I got on Logan's nerves for nothing?” Alec asked. 

John shrugged. “I just can't do it. It can't be me. I-”

“I get it,” Alec cut in, because he did get it. “You could leave her here,” he added after a while.  
John looked at him. Alec knew he had been thinking about it too. “You'll be 28 right now and she would still be right here,” he finished. 

“Still the same. Like I've never been gone,” John said quietly. 

“Yeah.” 

There was a long silence and Alec could feel Cameron watching them. Could feel the anger build inside John, all the frustration.  
“She's never going to be a real girl!” John said hotly. 

“She's a real person already,” Alec answered calmly. 

“To you, here, but not where I come from. She can never be what I want her to be.” 

“What do you want her to be? A human being – like everyone else?”

“I need her to be her, but human...I need someone-”

“Someone like who?” Alec wanted to know. 

“Someone like you!” John said frustrated and bit his lip, not looking at Alec. 

“An X5,” Alec said. “You want her to be human, but to be able to do what she does.” 

“No, Alec,” Cameron said, her voice sounded softer than it usually does. Alec looked at her. “John doesn't mean someone like you.” 

And it dawned on Alec then. John didn't want to leave here either. Not without her, not without Alec. “You could stay.” 

“I can't. There is a war out there happening right now. There are people being killed because they are going to grow up to be important. There is my mother alone, unprotected and I am-” John took a deep breathe, but it did nothing to calm him down. “I am on a freaking vacation. Having dinner and playing boardgames, going out drinking and watching you dance!” 

“You needed that,” Cameron said and John's eyes snapped to her. 

“You lied to me. Again.” 

“She finished the time-machine,” Alec said. 

John closed his eyes. “Of course.” He looked like the boy he was in that moment. Not any kind of saviour. 

“A while ago,” Alec said, it was like he couldn't shut up now. 

“Why are you telling me this? So I'll know it wasn't only her fault? I know that, Alec,” he said, his hands curled to fists on the table. He looked like he wanted to hurt someone. 

“John,” Cameron said.

“No.” 

“John,” Alec tried, but he had no idea what to say. 

“Why did you tell me? I didn't want to know,” John said. 

Alec reached for him just as Cameron did the same. She placed a hand on his shoulder while Alec leaned in and grabbed his neck. “John?” And it was a million questions.  
John nodded like he didn't know what to do or what to say or like he didn't want to have to make a decision and nodding was just the easiest way. 

“Why aren't you jealous?” John asked as he came up for air. Alec's fingers were stroking restless circles into the soft skin of his neck. He couldn't help himself. 

“He isn't like her. Alec doesn't want to take you away from me, John,” Cameron answered. 

 

~13~  
John still didn't know what she was feeling, what this inhuman body of hers could feel. She never looked like she was in pain when a car crashed into her or whatever the heck.  
She didn't look like a real girl now, but she didn't look like a machine either. She was something else, like Alec was something else and maybe John was pretty fucking messed up that the only people he could feel something for were able to kill him in seconds with their bare hands.  
But it didn't matter. Here and now it didn't matter, because this place in time was a vacation from being John Baum, or John Reese or John Connor – last hope of humankind.  
Here he was just John and it didn't matter that he couldn't feel her breath on his skin, it didn't matter because her body was warm and soft and her fingers were tangled with his. And besides Alec's panting, his breath mingling with John's when they clung to each other was enough. 

“Are you okay?” Alec asked. 

“Yes,” John pressed out and dug his fingers into Alec's back. He wanted to tell them that it was okay not to be super careful. That he wanted the finger-shaped bruises and marks. Wanted the reminders, because there was nothing else he could take back, except for the memories.  
And he couldn't leave any bruises on Cameron's skin. Alec would heal up too, way too fast. He was the only one and he didn't know how to ask for it. 

“John,” Cameron said, squeezing his hand a bit too hard and he moaned.  
He could feel Alec smile against his skin and then he bit down.  
It was okay, that he couldn't ask for it, they got it anyway. 

~+~  
Logan would give him so much shit for this if he knew. Fuck. But the thing was that Alec just couldn't make himself care. He had known all the consequences beforehand and he still did it. Still fucked them all over.  
John looked fucked out and young in Alec's bed, exhausted too. He was sleeping peacefully. And Cameron was watching him do it before she looked over at Alec. 

“I'm going to assemble the time-machine tomorrow morning. We'll have to get it to somewhere where it isn't populated. You shouldn't be there,” she said quietly. 

He nodded. “Need help with the parts?” 

“No, but I would like to borrow your bike,” she answered. 

“Sure.”

“I'll be careful, Alec.” 

“I know.” 

“I'll be back in the morning to get John,” she said. 

“I'll stay with him. I'll look out for him, Cameron.” 

“I know, Alec,” she answered. 

“Hey, do me a favour?”

“Yes.” She didn't even ask what it was. 

He got up and grabbed the old camera, checking it worked he showed it to her. “Is that okay?” 

She cocked her head, calculating the odds for disaster probably and then nodded. “You're not going to show it around.”  
He wouldn't. 

“I wish,” John said, blinking up at them, “I could take one back too.” 

“I can download it,” Cameron said. “You can print it out at home and never show to your mother.”

“Because she would kill you,” John answered smiling. 

“That isn't funny, John,” Cameron said, he grabbed her and she let him pull her down for a kiss. 

“No,” he replied, “it isn't.”

Alec snapped a picture of that kiss too. 

~end~


End file.
